Hypoxic Zone In The Gulf Of Mexico

Of the coral communities studied, at least half of the reefs were dead. This presents a huge problem for the entire ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico as coral reefs are the base of said ecosystem. Reefs provide organic matter and shelter for several benthic organisms (sponges, worms, clams, crabs, lobsters, etc.). The destruction of shelter poses threats to all of the organisms who live on coral reefs.

There are many destructive ways that the Florida red tide harms the living things along the Gulf Coast. Documented evidence in the past decade indicates that Karenia brevis red tide blooms exposures of brevetoxins were responsible for massive deaths among sea mammals, fishes, birds and sea turtles. These poisonous chemicals transferred through the food chain and all

The main problem this paper intends to discuss regards the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. This dead zone, which for the most part encompasses the water off the coast of Louisiana, becomes depleted in dissolved oxygen. The dead zone is an outcome of nutrient runoff into the Gulf from urban areas, wastewater treatment plants, and from atmospheric deposition, however, the majority comes from fertilizers used in agriculture around the Mississippi River Basin. The increase in nutrients has been affecting the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem by forming difficult conditions in which organisms live. Another consequence that is directly related to the ecosystem damage is the effect on the fishing economy in in the region. In the paper I will address the questions, how has the dead zone specifically caused damage to the ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and how has that damage affected the economic productivity of the fisheries? Furthermore, what policy solutions exist to solve the dead zone problem?

People are polluting the oceans which not only affects us but also affects the beautiful underwater habitats and interesting sea creatures. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). This plastic waste can get caught around sea animals, injuring them or even killing them (OI). Oils spills can really hurt marine life (Doc.2). Some creatures could eat it or get covered in it. If the fish eats the oil and then someone or something eats the fish they could get extremely ill. When there are excess nutrients in the water algal blooms occur, which is when algae has too many nutrients and reproduces in large numbers, this can also hurt people (OI). For these reasons and many more we should

Lastly, I will explain the dead zone of the chesapeake Bay. Excessive Nitrogen and Phosphrous pollution from human activities cause “Dead Zones” , which are areas with low amounts of oxygen. With little or no oxygen, fish, crabs, oysters, and other aquatic animals literally suffocate. Further excess in nutrients also fuels the growth of dense algae blooms that block sunlight that underwater grasses need to grow in order to continue providing food for waterfowl and shelter for blue crabs and juvenile fish. (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) (Dead Zones)

Algae blooms have been an issue in the Chesapeake Bay, especially in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Algae is a natural and critical part of the ecosystem, however in large doses it is harmful to the plants and organisms within the ecosystem. Algae blooms can block out sunlight and kill other plants in the water. Algae depends on various factors such as water, nutrients and carbon dioxide to grow. Eutrophication of the Inner Harbor has lead to algae blooms that have caused large fish kills in the past. When there is an over abundance of certain chemical nutrients eutrophication can occur. Runoff from land and farms is the main cause of excess nutrients into the water. The most common nutrients that are related to algae outbreaks are nitrate nitrogen and phosphate. In addition, a lack of dissolved oxygen can also be an indicator for the process of eutrophication and risk of an algae outbreak. A particular type of algae commonly found in Maryland is known as Prorocentrum minimum. Prorocentrum tends to cause “mahogany tides” causing water to be brown and have an odor. There has been a campaign launched by the Healthy Harbor

Red tide is the common name for a large concentration of certain species of dinoflagellates. This event accumulates harmful algal blooms quickly, resulting in discoloration near the surface water. Dense enough algal blooms cause harmful toxins strong enough to affect people and the oceans ecosystem as a whole. Karenia brevis is the most troublesome species of dinoflagellate in the Gulf of Mexico. This species reproduces by asexual cell division, therefore, given the right conditions, the population can rapidly increase in size. K. brevis needs large amounts of the correct nutrients to reproduce at toxic speed. The nutrients responsible for supporting Florida's red tide are nitrogen and phosphorus.

Red tide is a very serious issue that severely affects the West Coast of Florida. Red tide is defined as a toxic bloom in red dinoflagellates. It has major impacts on its surroundings. Algal species that have harmful effects are commonly referred to as Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Toxic red tide is threatening tourism in West Florida as well as wildlife, specifically the endangered manatees as it extends down the Florida coast. When conditions are right, dinoflagellates will bloom in very large numbers. Red tides name comes from the color that the blooms give the water when there are high concentrations of algae. Don Anderson, a senior scientist at the Woods

The causes that the ocean near Florida has turned into a guacamole, gunky sea is because of the algae and chemicals. The thick algae from Lake Okeechobee is making the manatees in the Atlantic Ocean struggling to breathe. The manatees are Native there and they are being affected from this man made disaster. There was a recent study, where scientists collected samples and tested it. The result was that twelve toxins that are health risking, according to Laura Parker from National Georgraphic.

The ocean is a vast and beautiful body of water. It seems as if nothing could ever take away from that beauty. Sadly that is not the reality, the ocean takes on more than 8 million metric tons of plastic waste every year (weforum.org). This causes many marine animals to die and ecosystems to vanish. This plastic and contamination can lead into the lovely state of Florida. Contamination, over fishing and farming can cause Florida marine life to die off and can cause red tides to last longer and be more harmful.

The dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is one of many throughout the world. There are many factors that cause the dead zone and not all dead zones are caused from the same things. In the Gulf of Mexico the dead zone is cause by nitrogen and phosphorus (fertilizer) go into the gulf and trigger phytoplankton blooms or algae blooms. First the oxygen rich water comes into the gulf and stratifies going to the bottom. Then the majority of the the nitrogen and phosphorus from agriculture and urban run offs from the Mississippi River watershed flow in the spring and early summer. For example 70% come from where the Ohio and Mississippi rivers meet, 39% come from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, 22% come from Ohio river basin, and 11% from the Missouri river basin, and the rest come from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee. Next the phytoplankton use all that fertilizer and die. Then the phytoplankton falls to the bottom of the sea and decomposes using all the oxygen. Then because of water stratification the oxygen levels on the bottom do not get

Malakoff stated that the Gulf of Mexico dead zone is a creature of the Mississippi (Malakoff). Scientist believe the surplus runoff of nutrients from agriculture in the great Mississippi River drainage basin is the result of the Gulf’s dead zone (Dybas). There’s a conflicting collaboration between human productivity and ecosystem health with the hypoxia problem in the Gulf of Mexico (Joyce). According to Joyce, the Mississippi basin is very important economically. She informed that the basin drains about 31 states and 40% of the contiguous United States. In addition, the basin represents nearly 55% of American agricultural lands and 33% of U.S. farm-related jobs and produces over $98 billion annually in agriculture (Joyce). Plus, since 1980 the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers annually discharged 1.6 million metric tons of nitrogen (mostly nitrate), 100,000 metric tons of phosphorous, and 200,000 metric tons of silica into the basin (Joyce). Therefore, about 56% of nitrate enters the Mississippi above the Ohio river in the states where agricultural production is the highest and that eutrophication has compromised water quality in the basin (Joyce). The Gulf of Mexico hypoxic zone was not monitored like many of the U.S. coastal ecosystems until water quality degradation was

Sediment collected from the riverbank as the river flows downstream is also a problem; it increases the turbidity of the river, and this makes it difficult for plants to receive the necessary sunlight needed for survival. When these plants die, there is less food for fish and other river animals. Bacteria levels also rise in the water, because it can cling to sediment very easily. When there is more sediment, there are more places for the bacteria to collect. (Helsel & Mueller, 2009). All of these problems are occurring as the water is flowing along the river banks, collecting even more sediment, and pollutants as it travels downstream and deposits into the Gulf of Mexico. When all of this sediment, nitrogen and bacteria flow into the Gulf of Mexico, it causes changes in the water there. The increase in the level of nitrogen causes plankton to grow faster. When the plankton decomposes it takes a large amount of oxygen out of the water. The bacteria break down the decomposed plankton, which releases carbon dioxide, taking increasing levels of oxygen out of the water in the Gulf. Eventually the level of oxygen decreases to a point where most living organisms cannot survive. Some animals flee while other plants and animals that cannot leave usually die. This is referred to as the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. (Gulf of Mexico; NOAA, 2009). With an expected increase in the size

Oxygen Depleted Waters-Over the years there has been an increase in hypoxia and anoxia in different regions of the oceans. In other words the oceans are lacking or having no oxygen to support marine life. The oxygen depleted waters typically occur during early to late autumn. The rise in hypoxia and anoxia amongst the oceans have led to increased mortality in marine life. In the article Suffocating the Ocean by Moises Velasquez-Manoff it emphasized the result of oxygen loss, “In 2002 they began pulling in traps full of corpses”. This shows how the lack of oxygen is causing the death rate to increase amongst marine animals. The waters are inhabitable due to the lack of oxygen making the atmosphere unable to support life. I feel that after

Dead zones in the ocean are so called because of the lack of oxygen in the seawater according to Karstensen. Oxygen is obviously needed to support all marine life in these areas. The article also mentions dissolved oxygen is